Kind: Offshore drilling unlikely

A Wisconsin Congressman says there are better solutions to the oil crisis than off-shore drilling.

President Bush is calling on Congress to lift a ban on offshore drilling. U.S. Representative Ron Kind (D-WI) says the move is just playing into the hands of big oil companies, who simply want to gain control of a greater share of the market and oil reserves. He doubts Congress will act on the President's request.

Kind says oil companies already have access to millions of acres of land where they can drill for oil, but they aren't. He wants Congress to enact “use it or lose it” legislation. The measure would require companies to act on the nearly 4,000 leases they control, or lose them.

Oil companies argue that most of that land is not profitable to drill on, but Kind doesn't buy that argument. He says it may have stood up when oil was at $25 a barrel, but that's not the case anymore with prices hovering at around $150 a barrel.

The La Crosse Democrat says Republicans should consider his proposal as part of a comprehensive energy policy for the nation, rather than just approving more leases for oil companies.